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Andrew-306
Given the secretive nature of the Office of Naval Intelligence, and the confusing records of the Spartan-II Program, it is difficult to tally the total number of Spartans in service. Official records indicate that 75 were forcibly recruited in 2517, and that of them only 33 survived augmentation. Since then, until 2552, officially, only four Spartans have become "MIA," one retiring, and another too wounded to continue serving. However, there are discrepancies - Indigo Team is one of them. While a few among Section Zero believe Indigo to belong to the little-known Class II of the Spartan II Program, Indigo were actually among the original recruits, and were trained alongside their fellow conscripted supersoldier candidates. During the augmentation process, they were transferred to Naval Special Warfare, separate from Naval Special Weapons, field testing much of the new technology developed for use by combat personnel. For the most part, their existence has been classified at the highest level, only deployed in combat theatres where the other Spartans are elsewhere. After the fall of Reach, Indigo Team were some of the few surviving Spartan II's to survive, and as such their presence could no longer be kept a top secret. History Recruitment Andrew's past is perhaps the most mysterious of the Spartan-II's of Indigo Team. Investigations by Codename: SHOGUN show that he matches the description and genetic profile of a child reported missing in 2517 on Jericho VII, presumably as a result of abduction by ONI operatives from Beta 5 Division. Previously, he had been a part of a family with strong military ties - his father, Staff Sergeant Lachlan Wallace, was a Marine in the UNSC, rather than the CMA, and had retired in 2513 to move from Scotland on Earth to Jericho in order to enter the fledgling agricultural industry taking root on the colony. The child in question was, according to hospital records, brought in with deep lacerations to the legs and torso, a result of an accident involving the crash of two JOTUN drones, and was not expected to live. Surprising all medical staff in attendance, young Andrew clung to life and his status was downgraded from "Critical" to "Critical but stable" after surgery. The next morning, Andrew was found by nurses to be missing from the hospital room. The windows had been left open, and the room was relatively low in the building with a garden trestle beside it - Jericho PD officers reported that a blood trail had been found on the trestle and carpark, but subsequently disappeared. Officers concluded that Andrew may have been dilirious from the combined effects of anaesthetic and bloodloss, and had been kidnapped from the carpark. Nurses would later report that a tooth belong to a human adult male was found in the room, and matched the disturbed effects, speculating that the child had been attacked by someone and was fleeing. Police dismissed these concerns, offering the alternative theory that the tooth belonged to a previous patient and that the state of the room was from Andrew stumbling around the room clumsily in his hallucinatory state. There is no proof beyond circumstantial evidence that the child and Spartan called Andrew are the same person, but the coincidences are certainly interesting. Regardless, there are no records at all among Doctor Catherine Halsey's records of a candidate called "Andrew," or that she ever visited the planet. Andrew's Spartan tag is also higher than the number of candidates identified by ONI, another discrepancy. The only evidence of his existence post-251s the formation of Indigo Team, and even then all references to them are classified November Black. Subsequent investigations by SHOGUN would reveal that Andrew is hardly the first discrepancy among the Spartan-II and III Programs, such as Team Black and Noble Team respectively, and SHOGUN concluded that there had been a concerted effort on the part of a small but powerful cabal of ONI officers to deliberately hide the true number of Spartans operational from Doctor Halsey, Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose, and Colonel James Ackerson - the apparent effectiveness of it on the latter had SHOGUN particularly concerned, given Ackersons usually good sources of intelligence. Exactly what happened to Andrew in the intervening time is unknown - while Halsey liked to think she took an active interest in the program, her attention was taken up by MJOLNIR, and for the most part Chief Petty Officer Mendez was responsible for their training. There are some indications that Andrew was trained by Mendez, and that he at least knew of Doctor Halsey, and SHOGUN's only conclusion was that Mendez had trained other candidates separately and had been ordered to keep this fact a secret by superior officers. Induction Into Indigo In 2525, Project INDIGO was started by an unknown subsection of ONI to form teams of Spartans outside of the traditional NavSpecWep chain of command. The most bold of which were the kidnapping of four Spartan candidates during the augmentation procedures, presumed by Halsey to have been dead. The Indigo personnel seem to have been less troublesome - Jeremy-068 suffered a myocardial infarction and was pronounced dead before resuscitating later, while Laura-125 suffered an adverse reaction to the muscular enhancements that destroyed her vocal chords and was disbarred by Halsey herself. Both still eager to become Spartans despite their circumstances, the two were recruited by ONI to be a part of Indigo Team, and paired with Andrew-306 - the fact that they were seeing a Spartan just as well trained as them who they had never seen made them both suspicious, but they ultimately accepted. The early engagements that Indigo Team are classified November Black, and even their later engagements can only be pieced together from rumour, speculation, and a little good intel. All efforts by ONI to keep track of them seem to have been halted at every turn by higher authorities, working to Indigo Team's advantage. Until 2529, Indigo was forced to don customised equipment from an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper unit - though not exactly sticks and stones, they still managed to pull off actions that would be almost impossible for conventional soldiers, and would be considered difficult even for unarmoured Spartans. Acquiring MJOLNIR Mark IV in 2559, Indigo Team's effectiveness would multiply exponentially. When they acquired prototype Vajra II variant MJOLNIR in 2542, Indigo would be the first Spartan team to be deployed in the field with fully functioning rechargeable energy shields. The only missions on record for Indigo team that are not restricted by November Black clearance are the operations at Pavo Secundus and Minorca; in the former, Laura inserted in an HEV pod, joining up with an ODST squad and serving as a sniper to pick off high-value targets as they assaulted a Covenant position, capturing a number of pieces of technology intact. Later, she would reunite with the rest of the team during the withdrawal process, and was immediately redeployed to Minorca to participate in the engagements on its surface, upgrading to the MJOLNIR Mark V en route. While their exact movements are still classified, the fact that they were still present is significant, and helps to explain a number of small and otherwise anomalous discrepancies in the record. Withdrawing to Earth, Indigo would take part in the battle of Earth, like all other military units, still using the MJOLNIR Mark V. After the Human-Covenant War, Indigo team's actions would again be classified November Black, though their presence in a number of missions is suspected, and in some cases all but confirmed. They seem to have taken part in Operation: TACK HAMMER, responsible for the assassination of Brute Chieftain Hephaestus. They also seem to have been present on Middangeard during the Brute's "Operation Tartarus", and took part in an operation to try and save Lord Terrence Hood, though ultimately unsuccessful. They also partook in Operation: CORSAIR and Operation: LAMENTATION, though in what capacity remains unknown - though separate engagements, the two were filed together in the groups mission file. Afterwards, they seem to have once again dropped off the grid, to eventually resurface during the Second Great War. Equipment As team leader, the MJOLNIR armour that Andrew wears is extensively modified from the original versions, and even the customised variants used by his fellow members of Indigo Team. Historically, he has had a number of prototype equipment - the fusion generator that would become a staple of the Mark V series would be field tested by Andrew, allowing him to employ a Solid Light Barrier defence system two years before the other team-mates; the suit's communications equipment allows the user to interface with friendly and hostile communications frequency at will, and provides improved encryption, decryption and translation software for protecting outbound frequencies and understanding intercepted messages; and late in development, the heads-up-display software incorporated into the MJOLNIR Mark VI would be tested, with improvements on weapons and ammunition tracking, additional sensors in the gloves for improved weapon recognition and compatibility, and an improved health tracking system. Upgrading to the MJOLNIR Mark V in 2551, this tradition of using prototype upgrades would continue with his use of the Mark V, and a number of the improvements made to his Mark IV suit would be carried over at his behest. The weapon-tracking system that would eventually be cut from the standard Mark V was carried through, as well as the improved communications gear. The use of an electromagnetic barrier rather than solid light meant had a negligible impact, but the biggest difference was the introduction of a layer of data memory crystal, allowing the suit to house a starship-grade AI. For the most part, this function would go unused until Indigo Team's introduction to Tinuviel in 2553, and was removed from the suits of Jeremy-068 and Laura-125 for cost-saving, but it would prove invaluable to Andrew for improving the processing speed of available hardware. With so few Mark VI MJOLNIR suits available near the end of the war, Andrew declined the use of one, instead opting to continue upgrading his MJOLNIR Mark V. Improvements were made to modernise the suit - though introduced in August, the introduction of the MJOLNIR Mark VI two months later had already rendered much of it out of date. Modifications were made to the AI support layer and shield generators to improve quality and efficiency, and the fusion reactor was replaced with a newer model, all in order to bring it back up to the performance level of the Mark VI. By 2561, Andrew was still using the Mark V suit, with no plans on replacing it. In combat, Andrew normally employs an MA5 series Individual Combat Weapon System or BR55 Battle Rifle, with supplementary M7/S Submachinegun or an M90A CAWS for CQC operations. The emphasis is on close-to-mid-range combat - with Laura able to engage targets at extreme range, and Jeremy more than capable of engaging enemy armoured vehicles, Andrew specialised at CQB and arms himself appropriately. Remarks *"Why did they replace the Mark V so soon? If you've ever seen the guy in battle, you know it's more than enough to take on anything a Spartan has to take care of." *"Even the other Spartans have some rudimentary history. Whoever trained Andrew, and whatever other Spartans might be out there, they they covered their tracks well. I almost didn't find it. Almost." *"All I saw was a flash of green, maybe a stripe of purple on the arm, and then a flashbang went off. Working for Ackerson has its privileges, but if I have to go up against these guys again I'm asking for a transfer." *""Abusus non tollit usum." "A consequence from an abuse to a use is not valid." Quite a profound motto for a Spartan team, if a little worrying." *"So, his number is higher than the original set. Does that mean he's an S-III? But he was deployed in 2525 - I call ONI bullshit on this one." Category:War of Vengeance